Tennis!

Tennis is an elite sport in Indonesia, and it seems that only people that have money have learned to play. The most popular sports here on Simeulue are volleyball, badminton and soccer. The former is played by women as much as men, and seems to be the only sport women play comfortably here. I can’t imagine having to play sport in a hijab, I have enough trouble playing in ¾ pants as it is!

There is one tennis court here on Simeulue, and it is a godsend. It’s not in the best shape; the surface is cracking and coming off in places, revealing the wood (? weird) and concrete beneath it, and it’s a shabby looking court that’s slippery at the back because of the mildew, but there is a dedicated group of old guys that play regularly and maintain it somewhat. I helped them paint the spectators’ shelter the other day; four or five of the front panels were rotten from termites, but we painted them anyway! Would have made more sense to replace them first...

The guys that play mainly work for the government. One of them is the head of PMI (Indo Red Cross), whom is good for me to know! In fact playing tennis has given me a bit of good exposure on Simeulue because many of the important people know who I am. It also helps that I happen to be able to play tennis OK, and am the only female on the island that they’ve seen play competitively … which means they all want to play against me. This means I really have to be on my game, because a large number of rockets come my way, especially when I’m standing at the net!

There’s even a Simeulue tournament! Held in August every year, it’s men’s doubles only, but already I’m building a case to play… hehe!

Without tennis, I think I would struggle to find an equally enjoyable form of exercise that I can maintain. I play 4 or 5 times a week, mostly early in the morning (around 6:30am) because it’s just too hot after about 8am. It’s a good way to start the day and because Indonesians like to sleep in, often it’s just Nam and I on the court. Sometimes we go out after work, and that’s when we play against the other guys.

I have got to know Nam quite well because of tennis. He’s a lovely guy, and is also a WatSan engineer that works for CordAid. He has just had his first child, who he has named Viet … and with the last name of Nam, it’s a lovely but slightly bemusing name! He only gets to see his family in Vietnam every few months. Tough gig for a new father! He misses them a lot.

This week we have spent quite a bit of time watching the Australian Open. Four hours on Saturday morning! Today we witnessed the rather unfortunate exit of Lleyton Hewitt from the tournament. But hey, that’s how it goes. Finding an equally enthusiastic tennis player has been great. It gives me something to do, provides me with some company (which I often crave, living alone) and is a great source of exercise. We are quite evenly matched on the court, and lots of fun games and good practice have ensued!